Sackville News, 22

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Sackville News 22nd May 2015 Dear Parents As we approach half term at the height of the exam season, I am very proud of how our senior students are conducting themselves at this pressurised time. Recent government reforms have meant that our young people face more examinations than ever before, and all within a very concentrated period of time. We endeavour to offer the best support we can, whether that be nutritional, subject specific or general exam reassurance. Staff are anxious to see their students perform well and await access to the papers with a great degree of anticipation but we all know that the students face by far the greatest challenge. I am very grateful to the tremendous support given by parents as I know from my own experience what an anxious time that can be. The spirit of Sackville teamwork really comes into its own at this time and I would like to thank especially our exams management team (Mrs James and Mrs Beswick) together with the invigilators, learning support assistants and site staff who work tirelessly to ensure that everything runs smoothly.

Speaking of teamwork, I would like to congratulate our marvellous year 7 and 8 relay teams who both recently won their Mid-Sussex relay competitions held at Forest School in Horsham. Well done!

Final standings

Year 7 Year 8

1 Sackville 1 Sackville

2 Forest 2 Oakmeeds

3 Warden Park 3 Warden Park

4 Downlands 4 Tanbridge

5 Oakmeeds 5 Forest

6 Tanbridge 6= Downlands

7 Oathall 6= Oathall

We were very pleased to receive a lot of positive feedback about the Sports Presentation Evening held last month (and reported on in the last edition of Sackville News). One such email commented as follows:-

“I feel the students conducted themselves very well during the whole evening and should rightly be proud of their achievements. I hope they build on those achievements by setting themselves, and achieving, challenging goals for the coming year. I look forward to seeing the results at next year’s awards evening.”

I am sure we will, indeed, see many more great sporting achievements over the coming year!

Students enjoy breakfast before the business exam on Wednesday

Ayo leaves the rest of the field in his wake

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Our musicians have also made their mark by travelling to Bourg de Peage last weekend for a town twinning music festival. Here they are on their journey – and what a great time they had performing with their European town twinning counterparts. They will doubtless be busy later this term with our Eggfest outdoor music festival extravanganza to be held at Sackville in July. We are seeing one or two key staff changes in the school at this half term stage as staff move on to new ventures and others take on new postions of responsibility in the school. On a personal level, I would like to express sincere thanks to Kerry Denman, my PA, who will be moving to Dorset next week to be closer to family. Quite simply, I have been incredibly fortunate to have such a professional, talented, efficient and dedicated colleague working alongside me as I entered the school and through my first two years. Kerry’s role in the school’s development has been crucial and I know that many of you will have had contact with her at one time or another. She has been devoted to the success of students and staff at the school and will be greatly missed.

I am delighted to inform parents that Mrs Kate Rowlingson will become the new Headteacher’s PA after half term. Mrs Rowlingson is currently the Pastoral Support Assistant for year 10 and she will be replaced by Mrs Linzi Knock who will now be working alongside Mr Latus. Year 10 students were informed about this change in a recent assembly. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Miss Rebecca Carter all the best as she completes her teacher training at Sackville this week and takes up her first teaching post at Stanley Park School in Sutton. We are also very pleased to have Mr Byrne joining our English department after half term with a responsibility for Key Stage 5 and intervention work. Mr Byrne joins us from a school in Croydon and is replacing Miss Haywood, who moved on at Easter to a promoted post at Peacehaven Community School. We are also very grateful to Mrs Adams who has been supporting the work of the English department since Easter.

As last year, we are once again anticipating a very stable staffing situation as we prepare for the new academic year, which is excellent. Ofsted commented very favourably on the current quality of teaching in the school and we are now looking to strengthening this position even further. High morale and enthusiasm are key to this success! One key departure we do know about however is that of John Burke, our bursar. The bursar’s role is an absolutely critical one in any school, and I will write more about John’s time at Sackville soon. In the meantime though, an advert for his replacement will be on the website from Friday. I was very pleased to receive the following email from our MP, Sir Nicholas Soames, concerning our latest inspection report:-

Dear Julian, Just a quick note to thank you very much for sending me the Ofsted Report on Sackville School. I am immensely impressed by it and do congratulate what you, your colleagues and young people achieved. Yours sincerely, The Rt. Hon. Sir Nicholas Soames MP

It just remains for me to wish you all a relaxing Bank Holiday weekend and half term break. Best wishes Julian Grant

Mrs Knock is the new Pastoral Support Assistant for year 10

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Parental feedback Mr Street writes:- At Sackville we value the feedback that we receive from parents and students, whether it is a complaint, compliment or comment. We like to know when we are getting it right – and when we are getting it wrong. Please feel free to share your ideas and suggestions with us, as well as your praise. These can be sent to secretary@sackville.w-sussex.sch.uk Our Parents’ Focus Group which meets every 8-10 weeks provides us with regular feedback and has acted as a great sounding board for ideas to make our school better. The group last met on Friday 15th May where we discussed how best to use tutor time and reward our students for all the great work that they do. As always there were some great ideas; it was suggested that students could discuss current affairs during tutor periods which could further encourage them to debate and challenge different points of view. On the topic of rewards, the group was keen to ensure that it was clear what reward points led to and reminded us that students are particularly motivated by reward trips. As always I would like to thank those parents involved and kindly invite you to make comments on any of the issues discussed.

Managing Teenagers Mr Maywood writes:- We are holding an evening for parents on planning for the dreaded teenage years on Monday 15th June from 6.30pm – 8.30pm. There will be the chance to share experiences and look at some suggested methods. There will also be a section on helping the students stay safe online. This is primarily for Year 7 parents but all are welcome. We would appreciate replies on this so I can plan for the refreshments; please email smaywood@wsgfl.org.uk

Year 7 Parents’ Evening Mr Maywood writes:- We had a 90+% turnout of parents to last week's consultation evening which is excellent. Mr Grant, Mr Street and I were really pleased with the positive and purposeful atmosphere across the whole evening. There were, rightly, searching questions from parents as to how their child can make the most of their potential and some great praise for the professionalism and enthusiasm of the staff. The clear support and interest from home aligned to the efforts of the staff and, most importantly, the students are the reasons for the great progress being made by the students.

Cakes for Nepal Mrs Farrant writes:- At Sackville School this week, year 8 girls, Alex, Amber, Emily, Imogen, Isabelle, and Sara were inspired to gather together after school to make cakes for the Nepal Earthquake Appeal. The next day they set up a stall at lunchtime in school, and quickly sold out of all their homemade cakes. Headteacher Mr Grant was pleased to present a cheque to the Appeal on behalf of the girls. They raised £66.69 in just 40 minutes. Amazing. Abigail and Eloise, also in year 8, have held another cake sale this week for Nepal, and raised nearly £30. Well done to all girls; that assembly from Mr Johnson obviously made an impact!

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Music twinning trip to Bourg De Peage Olivia Emmerson (year 10) writes:- After an early start on Thursday morning we arrived to the 25 degrees of heat in beautiful Lyon. An hour’s drive later and we arrived in the lovely town of Bourg De Peage to meet our host families and start rehearsals! A quick introduction and lunch then rehearsals started with the English, French, German and Spanish. We all went to dinner and called it a night until the next morning. Rehearsals were held in the Harmonie & Municipale for the next two days. On Saturday morning we went round Bourg De Peage town, saw some of the local tourist spots and went shopping. Then to the concert hall we all went for a final rehearsal when all the orchestras and performances joined together. The concert was a huge success and the music was brilliant. Pieces from Tschaikowsky to Abba were played and the night went down a storm! Come Sunday morning it was market time, we spent a couple of hours going round all the market stalls down the windy roads and then sadly it was time to head to the airport. It was a fantastic trip that will not be forgotten having met some lovely people and played some wonderful music.

Experiences of our German Language Assistant from Hamburg Mrs Valentine writes:- We have been very fortunate at Sackville to have had Maren Kaufmann, a teacher from our Hamburg partner college, work with us for the past six weeks. She has primarily assisted with MFL and Business Studies. This has enabled her to learn about the English school system and experience life in a comprehensive school. Students who are participating on the Hamburg study visit next January will be seeing Miss Kaufmann in her German classroom at a German Business College. Miss Kaufmann accompanied Mr Heatley and his band of musicians to our twin town of Bourg de Peage last weekend and below shares her thoughts on the visit.

I had the great pleasure to accompany six students of our school on their trip to the twin town Bourg-de-Péage from 14th

to 17

th of May. Our day started quite early on Thursday. The flight was scheduled for 8.10 am. When we arrived at the

airport in Lyon, a group of three French representatives gave us a warm welcome. We went to Bourg-de-Péage by a minibus. After being introduced to the host families at 3pm, the students had their first rehearsal in the School of Music. It was absolutely chaotic at first because there were 15 students from the twin town in Spain (Sant Feliu de Guíxols), four students of the twin town in Germany (Mindelheim) and other French musicians as well. When the scores for the compositions were all in place, the Armenian conductor, Ani Yakhinian, started the first union of all musicians to one big

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international orchestra. She did a really good job. With her experience and talent conducting young musicians, she motivated the students, explained how and why to play the notes differently and finally brought an amazing international orchestra into being. The students had several rehearsals, even one from 8.15pm to 10pm. On Saturday evening, the orchestra of the twin towns (orchestre des jeunes musiciens des villes jumelées) comprised 40 musicians. In the biggest orchestra of the whole festival fantasia, there were 80 musicians. They played on a very high level and so beautifully that I can only recommend to listen to a recording. The French organizers and host families looked after us very well and were hospitable par excellence. A big thank you to Sackville and Town Twinning for this great experience.

New E-book titles now available from the LRC! We have just purchased a new selection of E-book titles for you to enjoy anytime, anyplace.

Just follow these simple steps:

1. Download “iMLS” for free from the app store on your smart device.

2. User name is you school computer log in.

3. Password is your date of birth (DDMMYYYY).

4. Select your Library using the postcode search (RH19 3TY) and log in.

5. Search for “eBooks” by searching “Online”.

6. Choose the eBook . Open and download to your device and enjoy the read.

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New Head Team elected Mr Whitehead writes:- With the year 13 students leaving Sackville for the last time prior to the A2 exams, it is the perfect time to thank the outgoing Head Boy/Girl team for all their hard work. Chloe, Sean, Alex Wornast, Alex Haynes, Hannah, Emily, Simon and Dan have put in lots of hours over the past year, organising charity quizzes, the upcoming prom, taking part in student voice, representing the school in the wider community and being fantastic ambassadors at key events such as open and parents’ evenings. We wish them every success for the future. In their place, a new team has been elected and we look forward to them stepping up to their new roles after the exam season has finished. The team is led by Nicole De Barra and Michael Turnbull, ably supported by Roxanna Diba, Emma Baker, Tristan Hall and Michael Tarpey. To celebrate the appointment of the new team and to thank the departing one, a celebratory lunch was held in the sixth form library. Good luck to all sixth form students in their exams!

Malawi Pre-departure Training Day Miss Hilaly writes:- On Saturday 16

th May, the team of 14 year 10 students accompanied by Mr

Attrill and Miss Hilaly attended a pre-departure training day at school from 9.30am to 5.30pm. The day included lots of fun team-bonding games, quizzes and informative presentations and videos. The students and teachers certainly learned a lot more about Malawi and each other, and what to expect from our 16 day trip. We also met Jack and Louise who are members of Inspire worldwide, who will be accompanying us on our project. Whilst we are out there, we will be building teachers’ accommodation for a local school. This should help encourage qualified teaching staff to work at the school which is in the remote village we are staying in, 45 minutes from Blantyre. The day has certainly prepared all of us more, and the reality of what we will embark on is sinking in!

Sports News

English Schools’ Athletics Championships 2015 Mr Endersby writes:- On Friday 15th May, athletes from years 7 – 10 took part in the first round of this year’s championships. A great day’s athletics took place with schools from across the county competing for a place in the Regional Final.

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The junior boys team made up of year 7 and 8 athletes finished a commendable 3rd place, the inter boys team made up of athletes in years 9 and 10 came 4th in their age group. I am very proud of the whole team of all the athletes who not only performed admirably as individuals but also took great pride in being part of the athletics squad and supporting each other throughout the whole day as well as competing in the right spirit against their fellow competitors.

Standout performance must go to Callum Stone who ran the 1500m in the Junior boys category in a time of 4mins 58secs, the fastest time in his age group across the whole county, an amazing time for a year 7(!) athlete. Once again congratulations to all athletes for a great. STOP PRESS: we have just heard we have made the regional finals for both age groups in Ashford on June 10

th!

Squad members Junior Boys: Ethan Carrick, Ayo Odeyinde, James Scrace, Tom Cocks, Ben Mooney, Haydn Ewins, Ben Sanders, Jason James-

Bettel, Brice Major, Theo McFarlane, Matt Tomkinson, Owen Capel (all year 8) Harvey Byatt, Sam Kelly and Callum Stone (all year 7) Inter Boys: Devon Frost, Harry Bryant, Rienel Bronilla, Luke Burtenshaw, Will House, Tom Dean, Dan Elliot, Dan Wheate, Sam Havers, Adam Kelly, Chris Oglethorpe, Harry Durgan (all year 10) Or Shay and Alex Keeley (both year 9) On Wednesday this week, our year 8 combined team of boys and girls also won the Mid Sussex Athletics Super 6s. The victorious athletes are pictured below.

Former student JJ Grey goes from strength to strength in Georgia It’s always nice to get news of former students’ achievements. The report on the right is from the April 2015 edition of golf news. Mind you, our golf team has not been the same since he left!

Fundraiser for Mikhail Leys Finally on the sporting theme, there is a flyer on the next page for a fundraiser for Mikhail Leys. Though not a former Sackville student, Mikhail has coached many a Sackville cricketer at the town club, and we are pleased to promote this charity concert. Sackville students will be playing!

Callum Stone pictured in the last edition of Sackville News

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